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Heart of the Storm #4 - Suit & Tie

Good evening dear folks! Thanks for joining me on another trip into the realm of the dark arts of Magic: The Gathering. Our organizer sent me the usual info-mail in advance at Monday evening, containing the delay of the usual schedule in favor of the current Champions League Semifinals second leg matches from Wednesday to Thursday evening, a location which doesnít require me to drive for more than an hour and a negligible pre-registration sheet, all to my relief. The last tournament felt like a disaster to me and I skipped the following one in favor of the 1st leg match that Wednesday evening Ö that tourney wasnít too exciting either, as far as I heared (aside from 2 regulars performed a switch to BUG). Fast forward: After I tried to adjust my sideboard for the new BUG menace, I arrived unexpected early at todays location and decided to take a walk instead of sitting around and grabín some food at the local bakery instead of having an expensive and still questionable dish while slinging spells, which would be for today:

I rarely boarded (if ever?) the Decays and atm we have no one playing miracles in our metagame so I decided to cut down one of them for the third swarm which is useful against the ever returning Show&Tell strategies I face here. While coming back to the location, I notice less people showing up this time and we all have a chatter about the modus for tonight. The DCI reporter spits out the pairingsÖ

Round 1 Ė Shardless BUG

Game 1

I start tonights carnage with 2 strikes to my opponents kidneys: Winning the dice and drawing this opening 7:

Feels good. I decide to lead with U. Sea and simply ship back because a turn 1 Brainstorm would not help me here unless I draw into the nuts, so I rather use the spell defensive for now. He starts with Underground Sea into Thoughtseize and I think I hit one of the BUG decks Tim was talking about earlier this week. I think about brainstorming here to protect my tutors but either one can give me access to Empty the Warrens which is a gamble, if he plays Pernicious Deed or Maelstrom Pulse in his 60. I decide to let the Thoughtseize resolve and he takes one of the Rites over the Brainstorm here (taking one of the tutors doesnít make sense) which amazes me. I speculate that heís trying to slow me down for Hymn to Tourach or a similar gamebreaker here. I draw Duress for turn, lay down Gemstone Mine and fling the discard spell, seeing 2 Deathrite Shamans, Polluted Delta, Ancestral Vision, Jace TMS and Hymn to Tourach (!). I have no choice and strip him off the Hymn in relief. He fetches a Bayou in his turn, suspends the Visions and casts a Shaman to pass back. I draw Ponder and fire it off: Dark Ritual, Silence, Duress. I float Ritual and draw the Silence to literally cast a Time Walk against my opponent in his upkeep. He draws and passes back. I draw the Ritual for my turn and brainstorm into Duress, Petal, City of Brass. I threw back the Wish and the Duress. City of Brass, Lotus Petal, Gemstone for R, Rite of Flame (1 already in graveyard) for RRR, City of Brass for B, Dark Ritual for RRRBBB and put a hellbent Infernal Tutor on the stack and think about getting Ad Nauseam, but in fear of losing to a single Daze. I wage the odds. Does a tempo build with Daze play Ancestral Visions? Doubt it. Iím pretty sure at this point that this is a BUG build containing the Shardless Agent engine and those builds do not tend to play Daze. I go for the Ad Nauseam popping the Petal in the processÖ resolves. 19 life to go.

A hand to fall in love with against the inevitable turn 1 discard spell I see coming. He starts with Polluted Delta, go (!!). Iím able to expand my options with a Polluted Delta off the top of my library and probe him for information, seeing Wasteland, Force of Will, Jace TMS and Hymn to Tourach. I see now, what he was up to do here and draw Chrome Mox. I stick the Volcanic and cast Ponder off it: Brainstorm, Dark Ritual, Rite of Flame Ö shuffle, draw Burning Wish. I drop Petal and pass. He drops Verdant Catacomb, pops both fetchlands and digs up an U.Sea and a Bayou to cast the Hymn. Iím unwilling to burn the Petal here and have to discard the Brainstorm and the Delta. I draw a Petal and cast Chrome Mox to imprint (Rite of Flame) and cast Burning Wish which meets the Force of Will (Jace TMS). He spends his turn destroying my Volcanic with a Wasteland and summoning a Deathrite Shaman. I draw a Lionís Eye Diamond and cast it. Another DRS joins his side and he starts eating my graveyard to damage me. I probe him just to find a City of Brass myself and stick it. He plays another land and itís my turn to draw a Silence. End of turn I get burned for another 4 damage going down to 10. Gemstone Mine for my turn and another 4 damage before I ship back. I draw Ponder and cast it off the Gemstone Mine: Brainstorm, Probe, Burning Wish. I take the Wish and cast Silence which meets a Force of Will payed in full. I cast Dark Ritual of a freshly played Lotus Petal and use the Chrome Mox to put Wish on the stack while thinking about the target and opt to take Diminishing Returns before barely missing, that I already have an high enough stormcount to simply wish for Tendrils of Agony to seal the deal.

2-0

Unlike the first game I never had the impression I could loose this one after I topdecked the Lionís Eye Diamond. Possible his draws in game one were simply too amazing Ö Iím thankful for any shared experience for this matchup Ö thx in advance.

Round 2 Ė Shardless BUG

Game 1

My second round opponent played Punishing Jund the last time we sat across. Iím prepared

I could not hold back here and started to laugh about this hand after my dear opponent announced a mulligan to 6. I lost the dice and he just starts with an Underground Sea, leaving me back in confusion. I draw a Rite of Flame and go for a peek via Duress, he brainstorms in response and let me see those: Verdant Catacomb, Tarmogoyf, Brainstorm, Liliana of the Veil and Wasteland. The next BUG matchup? Geeez. I take Lilly and pass which enables him to fetch for a Bayou and fire off Hymn to Tourach! I lose my Brainstorm and a Ritual and have a problem with his Wasteland soon. I rip a Lotus Petal and cast it, pop the lovely mini-Lotus for R, Rite of Flame, tap U.Sea for B, Ritual, Ritual, Infernal Tutor for Ad Nauseam Ö Bazinga!

I see some potential for this hand being able to rebuild after being clubbed by discard spells and want to see what I can do here. He starts with Underground Sea into Thoughtseize and takes the Ponder. I draw a Lotus Petal and Probe him (draw Gemstone Mine), seeing a priceless curve of Brainstorm, Hymn, Shardless Agent, Polluted Delta and Tarmogoyf. I drop my City of Brass and use the Cabal Therapy in my hand to strip him off the Hymn. He expands his manabase with a Bayou he found using his Polluted Delta and drops a Tarmogoyf onto the field. I draw a Silence and use it to cast a ďTime WalkĒ off my Gemstone in his upkeep to prevent his Shardless Agent from knocking me out with a revealed discard spell. He can only play a Verdant Catacomb and attack with his Lhurgoyf. The swing of the grave-fed beast drops my life to 14. I draw a Dark Ritual and cast my Probe, checking the coast (Brainstorm, 2 Shardless Agents) and draw Brainstorm which I cast off the City to see Chrome Mox, Polluted Delta and LED. I stick both Moxen on top of my library and fetch an Underground Sea, Petal, LED, Dark Ritual off the U.Sea, Burning Wish (break Diamond for UUU), he thinks about brainstorming but explains with a smile that he does not want to fuel my stormcount here and I browse my sideboard with BBUUU in my pool and think about chaining the sideboard Infernal into the mainboard EtW Ö sounds good. He responds to my Infernal with Brainstorm and does not find the Force of Will so 18 Goblins enter the battlefield. He untaps, brainstorms, casts a Deathrite Shaman, Brainstorms again and drops a Tropical Island. I draw a Ponder and cast it: Ponder, RoF, LED. I float the Ponder and drop the Diamond. I swing in with the team after ensuring I donít get killed by the backlash of his Goofy and DRS. He blocks 2 and drops to 1 life with a Verdant Catacomb still in play. He untaps and windmill-slams a Engineered Plague off the top! Moments later my goblins die a gruesome death and his Tarmogoyf beats me down to 5. I didnít see this coming. I draw the Ponder I have floated and cast it off the Underground Sea. I see LED, Rite of Flame and Infernal Tutor. Iím one man a short to chain Infernal into Wish into Grapeshot and face lethal. I have to shuffle Ö draw Ö Duress x(

3-1

Shit happens, but that Plague was sick. He explains that he wanted it vs. tribal, Lingering souls and Ö. Goblins Ö spot on, dood.

Sideboarding: nothing

Game 3

He mulls to 5; a Deja-Vķ of what he did the tournament 2 weeks ago. I throw away these 7

Naaaaaaaa, I was just kidding. This hand is a keeper enabling me to go off very early in the game. I start with the usual Probe before playing a land and see him holding Thoughtseize and Liliana of the Veil among 2 lands and a Tarmogoyf. I draw a Wish as a replacement for the Probe and go Volcanic, Petal, RoF, Ritual, Ritual, Burning Wish and grab Empty the Warrens for 14 goblins, being sure that this is enough, because he needs Deathrite Shaman + Deed/Pulse/Plague to interact with the goblins in-time and I saw nothing of those in his hand. I lean back and go for the auto-pilot. He drops Bayou and cast Deathrite Shaman! Lucksacking, anyone? I draw a Chrome Mox and Brainstorm into Gemstone Mine, Silence and Brainstorm. I keep the Gemstone Mine and the Silence and put back the rest. I drop the Gemstone Mine and Attack him with the whole team just to Silence-walk in his upkeep. He reveals his hand, the top of his library (Brainstorm) and his hand for the shake.

4-1

Hope you dear readers forgive my lazy, lame play here. Sometimes the auto-pilot is the best play.

Round 3 Ė UR Delver

Game 1

We shuffle up while I think about how reacting to the loss of the dice roll. He announces a mulligan and I fan these

I try to evaluate this hand on the draw vs a hand of 6 and put him on a blue deck so I feel I can go into a grindy game with Duress and Silence. He makes my decision easier because he mulls again and finally keeps 5 starting with a Scalding Tarn into Volcanic Island into Ponder. I draw a Burning Wish and open with Underground Sea into Duress and he dazes(?!). In his turn he wastes my Underground Sea. I draw a Ritual and play Gemstone. I think about his Daze against my Duress and smell a Stifle or FoW so I just pass. He replays the Volcanic and ponders again. I draw a Gemstone Mine and play it. I Silence him which meets FoW. I recount my mana and notice that Iím a mana short of chaining Infernal into EtW Ö Iím an idiot. I pass back. He plays Scalding Tarn and Goblin Guide, attacks and I lucksack-topdeck an Underground Sea! I draw a Petal and tap my 3 lands for RRB, Infernal for Dark Ritual (storm1), Petal (storm2), Petal (storm3), Ritual off Petal (storm4), Ritual (storm5), Burning Wish for EtW (storm6), Chrome Mox without imprint (storm7), Empty the Warrens for 16 Goblins. He draws and shows me his 2 cards in hand: FoW + Daze.

This hand is awesome. He opens with Volcanic into Delver of Secrets. I topdeck a Gitaxian Probe (storm1) and use it to see Ponder, Brainstorm, FoW, REB and Stifle Ö lol. I play Gemstone into Ritual (storm2) which does not get neutralized via FoW and so I can cast Duress (storm3) to strip the FoW. At this point I remind him of his mistake to let Dark Ritual resolve AFTER I already saw his hand and still proceed to cast the Ritual. I cast Lotus Petal (storm4) into Rite of Flame (storm5) into Empty the Warrens (storm6) putting 12 Goblins onto the battlefield. Heís annoyed at this point, reveals a Wasteland to Delver, and ponders in his turn, drops a Wasteland and passes. I draw an U.Sea, Ponder, see some more cantrips and keep them for the lulz. I swing for 12. He flips Lightning Bolt to Delver, brainstorms, but canít find one of his 2 Engineered Explosives (he told me after I dropped the 12 Goblins). He can sure fetch another land and Ponder to find the Explosives but will lack the mana to activate the Engineered Explosives afterwards. He refuses to durdle around and tells Tim to rate this match a 2-0 in my favor. What a nice guy.

6-1

The unexpected quick match enabled me to listen closely to the songs (iPod) of a man I was able to meet personally a week before, as he held a surprise-concert after a variety show here in Berlin, where I had a 1st row table for me and my GF, ending up with him performing this song live in front of our tableÖ fuck yeah! (video obviously taken somewhere else)

I was mentally gone and missed the pairings just noticed a familiar face sitting down acrossÖ

Round 4 Ė Omniscience

Game 1

Iím able to start the game which is awesome. He keeps his 7 and I think about doing the same.

This hand is ugly slow and I calculate punting the game right because of that but think about the odds of having a better 6 and keep here, opening with City, go. He starts with Island, Ponder and keeps his top 3. I draw a Silence and check his hand with Gitaxian Probe seeing Force of Willk, Enter the Infinite, Cunning Wish, Omniscience, Dream Halls, Misty Rainforest and Ancient Tomb. Iím lucky that itís only Dream Halls as enabler and not Show&Tell. I draw a Brainstorm and tap the City to fire of the cantrip: Lotus Petal, Dark Ritual, Infernal Tutor. I throw back the EtW and the Burning Wish. I drop the Delta and pass back, preparing a lethal turn 3. He let Ancient Tomb join the Island and ships back. I break the Delta for an U.Sea at the end of his turn and brainstorm into Duress, Volcanic Island and Gitaxian Probe. I take Duress and float Volcanic which I draw for my turn and drop onto the field. I count my mana and notice that Iím a mana short for an protected kill so I think about Duress or Silence to interact with him now or in his upkeep to clean my hand for the Infernal Tutor. I Duress here taking the FoW over the enabler which is likely still blocked for the next turn and I can beat a topdecked FoW with the Silence anyways after I have another peak with the Probe floating on top of my library. He casts a Cunning Wish for Trickbind end of turn. His turn he only play another Island. I probe him and see no defense except the Trickbind. I draw Petal as a replacement for G.Probe, play both Petals and tap City going to 13 life and cast the Silence and hellbent Infernal checking a stormcount of 7 and 17 life on his sheet Ö damn! I dig for the Ad Nauseam and cast it.

No idea what devil rode me to keep that hand. I think I gambled on a hilarious awesome Brainstorm with Infernal + Silence already in my hand. He dropped the Leyline of Sanctity on the battlefield before he proceeds to take his turn with Island into Ponder, shuffle, draw. I find a Petal for my turn and drop the Volcanic. He brainstorms and ponders (yes, this sequence) in his turn and passes with 2 Islands in play. I topdeck another Silence and use it and the City to basically take an extra turn, playing it in his upkeep to prevent Show&Tell or such nonsense. This leaves him with Ancient Tomb and passing back the turn to me. I draw the second City of Brass and have to brainstorm, because I canít afford to blow the remaining Silence for another ďtime walkĒ. I need gas. Now. The blue instant reveals Mox, Dark Ritual and Rite of Flame and so I toss back the Mox and the City. I drop the Polluted Delta and cast Silence which meets FoW (Dream Halls). I fetch an Underground Sea, Petal, RoF, RoF, Ritual for BBBRRRR and Infernal for Ad Nauseam off 17 life because heís still on 19 life Ö geeeez.

I lost the dice which is pretty much annoying vs. tempo-strategies. He opens with Volcanic Island into Delver of Secrets. I draw a Burning Wish and launch a Ponder off the U.Sea, seeing 2 Ritual and a RoF, drawing the Rite. He fetches a Tropical Island with a Misty Rainforest after failing to flip an Instant or Sorcery. Instead he reveal another Delver which quickly joins his brother. I got punched and untap. I draw Ritual, drop the Gemstone Mine and Probe him (Brainstorm, Stifle, Nimble Mongoose, Delver of Secrets) drawing the 2nd Ritual off the top. I play a Ritual off Underground Sea and Duress. He let me take the Stifle but being able to Brainstorm. I tap Gemstone Mine to pay for the Rite of Flame, Dark Ritual again and put Burning Wish on the stack which provokes the Brainstorm in response. He hits the Force of Will! He smiles from ear to ear leaning back Ö I pause Ö sighed Ö set up a devilish laugher Ö cast the second Rite of Flame for a total of RRRBBB and put Infernal Tutor on the stack! Heís now cursing full-throatedly as I search my library for the Empty the Warrens to put 20 goblins into play. He flips a Lightning Bolt to his 2 Delvers turning them into 3/2ís which isnít too impressing facing an army of 20 green goblins. He does not find a solution to the goblins the following turn and scoops after the draw.

9-1

Sideboarding: -1 Infernal Tutor, +1 Cabal Therapy

Game 2

2 possible games left to crown myself the 4-times, 4-times, 4-times, 4-times gentís club winner. At this point I start thinking about switching my deck for the next event because Iím gettín kinda bored like my fellas do rocking TES and we discuss some possible trades across the tables. I notice my opponents isnít in good shape, still being angry about the outcome of game 1.

Iím not sure what kind of hate I have to expect out of the sideboard so I keep that stable hand which lacks business. I expect a very defensive reaction from him and keep. He leads with Volcanic Island into Ponder and keeps his top 3. I draw a Lionís Eye Diamond for turn and think about holding on the Probe for stormcount but remind myself that I need to find a Tutor asap and do not want to scoop on a Daze versus my Ponder. I cast Gitaxian Probe to see Daze, Scalding Tarn, Pyroblast, Ponder, Spell Pierce and Misty Rainforest. I draw Rite of Flame and Ponder off the Gemstone Mine. I see Polluted Delta, City of Brass and Dark Ritual. I decide to keep this top 3 because of the need for initial mana against Daze and Spell Pierce and the possibility to get hit by Wasteland. In his turn I see him pondering again and drop a Scalding Tarn before passing back to me. I draw the City of Brass and fetch an Underground Sea with the Polluted Delta. My opponent fetches a Tropical Island and casts his third Ponder in 3 turns. He drops a Delver of Secrets and a Misty Rainforest. Now things get spicy. I draw Burning Wish and drop City of Brass and cast Rite of Flame (storm1), then another Rite (storm2) which meets Spell Pierce (storm3). I do the math and pay for it by tapping the U.Sea and burn the remaining red mana to add RRR to my pool with the Gemstone Mine still untapped. He realizes that I now have negated his Daze. I cast Silence which he lets resolve to not boost my stormcount even more (storm4), LED (storm5), LED (storm6) and the Mox as a blank (storm7). I cast Burning Wish (storm8) for Temdrils of Agony (storm9) which is enough to drain his 17 lifepoints (his remaining hand is Daze, Wasteland and 2 Pyroblasts as he shows me)

10-1

After the price giveaway (I'm ending 1st the 4th time in a row) Iím able to trade for 2 Judge FOIL Gaeaís Cradle to possibly rebuild myself an Elven deck; something, what I once had, but lost interest in 10 years ago. Maybe I should give my FOIL Green Sunís Zeniths and Judge Natural Orders a new home ;)

Re: Heart of the Storm #4 - Suit & Tie

Originally Posted by Lemnear

Round 1 Ė Shardless BUG

Game 1

...I draw the Ritual for my turn and brainstorm into Duress, Petal, City of Brass. I threw back the Wish and the Duress. City of Brass,Lotus Petal ,Gemstone for R, Rite of Flame (1 already in graveyard) for RRR, Lotus Petal for R, City of Brass for B, Dark Ritual for RRRRBBB and put a hellbent Infernal Tutor on the stack and think about getting Ad Nauseam, but in fear of losing to a single Daze. I wage the odds. Does a tempo build with Daze play Ancestral Visions? Doubt it. Iím pretty sure at this point that this is a BUG build containing the Shardless Agent engine and those builds do not tend to play Daze. I go for the Ad Nauseam Ö resolves. 19 life to go...

(corrections in bold)

Thanks a lot for these reports. I've just started playing TES in the Netherlands after playing control for years and fell in love with the deck. These reports give me even more confidence in the deck!

Re: Heart of the Storm #4 - Suit & Tie

Now I want to see you go undefeated playing DDFT or something silly like that

I'm loving the reports, keep up the good work

Haha, check the 2nd HotS-entry, where I miserably punted the match against SneakShow :)

I use the detailed notes (stenography), reports and feedback to improve myself with the help of the community which keeps reminding me of my mistakes, which is very valuable.

I'm indeed thinking about switching the deck for 1-2 events. I'm not sure if I simply play the TRS Doomsday (DDFT isn't a good deck imo) or my take on elves once I have done enough testing with it. However, I (and my local peeps) may need a break :)

Re: Heart of the Storm #4 - Suit & Tie

So where you the only one wearing a suit and tie, or was this a mandatory and enforced dress code?

-Matt

"I only drink whiskey older than my girlfriends. It's an expensive hobby at either end of the scale, no matter which way you work it. Do you go with an expensive lady, or a smooth drink? It's a real dilemma."

"I'm your Huckleberry."

"If it takes more than a day to decide, you'll never decide"

Apparently John Cox, LordofthePit, Einherjer, Mr. Safety, Imnotbrown, Treefolk Master, and Parax love what I have to say.

Re: Heart of the Storm #4 - Suit & Tie

Originally Posted by sdematt

So where you the only one wearing a suit and tie, or was this a mandatory and enforced dress code?

-Matt

We started with this as a dresscode because it's already our business dress (at least the majority of the regulars) and we used to met directly afterworks, so this came in handy. The main benefit is that you gain access to locations which aren't smelly bars or such (better drinks and women) and don't get identified as a nerd. The 2 times we "opend" the "gent's club" to interested players without dresscode (and manners) were a desaster (i mentioned this and that in my reports; finding a location without doormen etc.). No one of us dares to show up unshaved in sneakers and bandshirts even the dresscode isn't THAT strict. You'll never see me without a vest for example. Atm we love Club Blazers and Oxfords (shoes) :D